


melted

by zigur



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blood and Injury, Bruises, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Medical Procedures, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 08:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8572162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zigur/pseuds/zigur
Summary: What you did not expect was to see Reyna Ramírez-Arellano standing on your shitty doormat with all her intimidating might, a bruise on her jaw and a mix of anger and concern on her eyes. And you definitely did not expect to see a barely awake Nico di Angelo in her arms either.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first thing i write since july and also it was not proof-read so im sorry about that

You’re not actually asleep when you hear the frantic knocks on your door, but you’re close enough that it makes you want to cry, especially when a shout of _Solace, open the door_ comes in a familiar enough voice that means ignoring is out of the question.

 

Damn your kind and altruistic spirit.

 

It takes you a minute to situate yourself because it’s 2am, then another to manage to push exhaustion aside and get out of bed. Your vision is a little hazy, and you’re not very steady on your feet, but you make it to the door without any incidents, which at this time is the best you can do.

 

You open the door.

 

It’s not what you were expecting at all.

 

You’re not sure of what you _were_ expecting. Maybe one of your friends, drunk out of their mind and in need of a place to stay– it’s rare, but it happens.

 

What you did not expect, hadn’t even considered as a possibility, was to see Reyna Ramírez-Arellano standing on your shitty doormat with all her intimidating might, a bruise on her jaw and a mix of anger and concern on her eyes. And you definitely did not expect to see a barely awake Nico di Angelo in her arms either.

 

“Jason Grace said you could help.” It’s a statement, not a question, and it snaps you out of the shock that had you frozen where you stood.

 

“Put him in the couch. I’m going to grab some stuff and you’re going to tell me what the hell happened.” You doubt you sound very intimidating with your disgustingly orange shirt and old Star Wars boxers, but Reyna moves like a soldier given an order, and you only wait until they’re inside before closing the door and going in search of the supplies you keep stashed away in your house.

 

By the time you come back Reyna is hovering over an unconscious Nico, her eyes softer than you had ever seen them as she pushes a lock of his dark hair from his forehead. The line of her mouth is hard, but you suspect it has more to do with worry than anything else, and it’s so incredibly tender you’d be touched if you weren’t so overcharged with professional immediacy.

 

You clear your throat, and she looks up at you with no sign of discomfort or surprise before stepping aside to let you do what you need.

 

It’s not a pretty image.

 

You’ve treated Nico di Angelo before– that’s how you met, in fact. The boy has a penchant for getting himself into trouble, either willingly or otherwise, and he happens to be best friends with Jason Grace, whom you had struck a tentative friendship with after he moved across the hall from you a year ago, and who has the endearing habit of mothering anyone in need of it.

 

It was really only a matter of time before Jason showed up at your door with his broken and bruised best friend in need of patching up.

 

And after that it never really stopped; Nico hates hospitals with his entire being, and you’re always open to helping someone, especially if they wouldn’t get help otherwise. Usually it was just patching up some bleeding knuckles and icing some bruises, because apparently Nico tended to win most hussles he got involved in, but this–

 

This is different.

 

You choke on a gasp as you kneel by his side to take in the damage.

 

‘Healthy’ has never been a word that could be accurately used to describe Nico di Angelo, but this is something else. His usually light-brown skin is ashy grey and sickly looking; there are bags of exhaustion under his eyes that rival yours by a mile, and when you grab his wrist to check his pulse (languid but strong, thank the gods), you find that he seems much skinnier than he should be as well.

 

Your immediate concern, however, lies with the bruises that seem to cover his face, and the hurriedly wrapped gashes on his arms.

 

 _Someone did this to him_ , you think, and an irrational surge of anger rushes through you before you get it under control.

 

“Tell me what happened.” You demand, dipping a cotton ball in antiseptic and gently wiping the dried blood off his face; there’s a small cut on one of his cheekbones, and an increasingly darker bruise on his jaw that matches Reyna’s. His bottom lip his busted and dripping blood down his chin, and though his nose is intact, there’s a line of purple around his neck that makes you want to cry.

 

“I’m not sure. Some assholes ganged up on him, I– I wasn’t there for most of it. One of them had a knife.” Her voice is tense, like she’s trying her best to keep herself together and not quite managing. You pretend not to notice, and keep working. “I helped him get rid of them, but the one with the knife managed to cut him some. I called Jason, but he’s not in town. He said you could help.”

 

“I can. Do you know if he hit his head? Is that why he’s out?” You cup his cheek as carefully as you can. It doesn’t look so bad now what the blood’s been wiped off; you bandage the cut on his cheekbone, but all you can do about the lip and the jaw is ice it.

 

“He might have, but I’m not sure. I know he hasn’t slept or eaten in some time, so that might be it as well.”

 

Fucking Nico di Angelo.

 

“Nico.” You say, running a hand through his hair. “Can you hear me?”

 

“Yes.” He says, eyes still closed and a frown on his face. “What d’ya want?”

 

“Such a polite young man.” You smile a little, and you see the tiniest quirk of his lips as well. “I’m gonna patch up your arms, okay? I’m gonna need you to sit up for me, can you do that?”

 

“I– Yeah.” He says, deep brown eyes blinking open and staring up at you for a fraction of a second before focusing on the floor. He groans in pain as you help him sit, and once he’s up he closes his eyes again, like even the effort of keeping them open is too much.

 

“I’m gonna ask you some stuff while I do this.” You say, unwrapping his right arm; there’s still blood gently oozing from the cut, but it’s not very deep, and it seems to be stopping, which you’re thankful for.

 

“Of course you are.” He says and you snort, amused, while you wipe the blood off his arm, before grabbing the suture needle and thread.

 

“Don’t be bratty. Tell me your name.” You ask, and he winces a little as you work on closing up the cut. A part of your brain tells you maybe it’s time to invest in skin glue if you’re gonna be sewing up cute boys like this often, and you immediately tell it to shut up.

 

“Nico di Angelo.”

 

“Good. Does your head hurt?”

 

“No.” He says, and you stop what you’re doing to stare up at him. He dodges your gaze and moves like he wants to fidget. “Yeah, okay, it hurts. It’s nothing I can’t handle, though.”

 

“I see.” You say, mostly just because you know it annoys him. “Do you remember what happened?”

 

“Yes. I got into a fight. I was cornered and they ganged up on me.” He frowns and you nod, solemn, tying the knot on the stitches and getting up.

 

“Did you black out? Scooch, time for lefty.” He rolls his eyes at you and you wink at him.

 

“No, but I got that ringing ears thing. I mean, I passed out now, but you would too if you hadn’t slept in as long as I have.” You unwrap his right biceps, and– it’s much uglier on this side. Blood has almost leaked through the makeshift bandages Reyna had done, and when you pull them out it’s still going, sluggish, but steady.

 

You wipe the it off and start again.

 

“You nauseous? Dizzy? Your vision okay?”

 

“No, yes, yes.” He winces again, and you can’t blame him. This cut is a lot deeper than the one on his right arm, but it doesn’t look serious enough that you can’t handle it, at least.

 

“You hurt somewhere else that you didn’t tell Reyna about?” You look up as you ask him, because keeping track of Nico’s expressions is an important part of deciphering whatever it is he’s keeping to himself.

 

Predictably, he frowns.

 

“There’s no use lying, you know that–”

 

“Doctor always finds out, yes, I know, Solace.” You hear an amused snort from Reyna, and you can’t hold back your own grin as you finish sewing him off. “Hurts to breathe a little. I got kicked some.”

 

Anger drops to your stomach again, and from the growl you hear from Reyna, it seems you’re not alone in it.

 

You take a deep breath. It’s not your place to be this agitated.

 

“Lay back down. I’m gonna have to check if anything is broken. If it is, I’m taking you to a hospital.” Nico’s expression twists and you recognise the intention to protest, but you don’t let him. “Listen, di Angelo, I don’t care if I have to sedate you. If I feel like I’m not capable of helping you here, I’m dragging you to an E.R. whether you like it or not. Is that clear?”

 

Nico opens his eyes with the sole intent of throwing a glare at you, and while greater men would have cowered, you’re both too exhausted and concerned to care, and you refuse to let Nico intimidate you into allowing him to not get help.

Also, you’ve been on the receiving end of Nico di Angelo’s evil glares often enough that you’re almost sure you’re immune at this point.

 

“Brutal.” Reyna whispers behind you, and Nico turns his glare at her. She doesn’t seem to think much of it either, because you hear her snort again.

 

“Fine, but I’m not gonna be happy about it.” He says after a while as he lies back down, and you can’t help but smile at him.

 

“When are you ever, really? I’m gonna lift up your sweater and feel for anything broken, tell me if it hurts too bad.” You say, looking up at him for consent.

 

He nods, and you move.

 

It’s not pretty– there’s an unhealthy splash of reds and purples across the side of his stomach, obviously the result of repeated kicks, and just imagining someone doing this to him makes you furious all over again.

 

Reyna inhales sharply at your back, and you shake those feelings away for now.

 

Silently, you run your hands over his ribs, hoping, praying that you don’t feel anything other than the obvious swelling and thanking all the gods you can remember when you don’t.

 

You place an ice patch over the bruise and pull his sweater back down, getting up to your feet and stretching the kinks out of your back before turning so they’re both in your line of vision. Nico sits up, with some difficulty, a hand on the ice to keep it from falling.

 

“So?” He asks, impatient.

 

“So! Good news and less good news. Which do you two want first?”

 

“Good news” Reyna says, faster than Nico could open his mouth to demand the opposite. He frowns at her, but she ignores him.

 

“Good news! Nothing is broken. Most of those are just ugly bruises, and though the cuts had me concerned for a minute there, they were nothing major and I managef to close them off. The bruises just need to be iced and they should get better. Some painkillers for the pain and they won’t bother you much either.” You smile brightly, and Reyna lets out an audible sigh of relief, while Nico stares at you for a second too long before blinking and turning his eyes elsewhere. “Also, they’ll make you look extra edgy, so I guess those are good news as well.” Nico huffs out a chuckle, and Reyna smiles.

 

“And the less good news?” She asks.

 

“Mild concussion, I’m afraid. It’s not serious, but it needs monitoring, which means you’re gonna have to stay overnight.” You say, and once again stop Nico as soon as he opens his mouth to protest. “Actually, make that three days. I wanna keep an eye on you because – no offense –, but you have terrible self-preservation and I don’t trust you to take it easy.”

Silence.

“Right, I’m sure as fuck not doing that. Reyna, can you help me up?” He says after a minute straight of staring at you like you’d lost your mind. He tries and fails to get up, pain clear as day on his face as Reyna rushes to gently push him back down.

 

“I’m with the blond on this one, actually.” She seems sheepish as she says it, but there’s a glint of amusement on her eyes when she sees the look of utter betrayal on his face. “You need to take care of yourself, kid. Give yourself time to heal up properly, otherwise you’re gonna end up in a lot of trouble.”

 

“You don’t have to stay here per se.” You say because you’re plenty aware of Nico’s trust issues, and you’d hate to push him into doing something he’s not comfortable with. “But you do need to have someone around for a couple of days, because you’re not going to be able to do much, and to keep you from exerting yourself. Because, and I mean this, you _will_ end up in a hospital otherwise.”

 

“You can stay with me.” Reyna offers, but Nico shakes his head.

 

“You have that race a couple days from now, I’m not gonna burden you.”

 

“You’re not burd–-”

 

“I am, and I’m not going to get in your way. I know how tense you get before competitions, I’m not gonna be an extra weight.” There’s a frown on his face, and his words make your heart ache a little. Reyna seems to feel the same, and she opens her mouth to say something, but Nico doesn’t let her. “I can’t do that to you, Reyna, no. I–” He hesitates then, turning his gaze back to you. “Are you sure I can stay here? I don’t wanna be a bother.”

 

“You’re not a bother.” The words are out before you even realise. “And of course you can stay. I’d feel better if you did, and I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it. I’m off work for a while anyway, so it’d be nice to have some company since I’ve been kicked out of my own E.R.”

 

“I–” Nico starts, looking a little at lost for words. “Okay.” He says, and you can’t help but brighten at him.

 

“Okay?”

 

“Yeah. Okay.”

 

“Great!” You try not to sound so absolutely ecstatic, because you’re plenty aware that this means nothing to the boy on your couch, that he’s just doing it because he has no other options and because you asked (downright demanded, really), but you always find it hard to keep your emotions to yourself when Nico di Angelo is around.

 

You look away to rummage through your first-aid kid instead of focusing on those big brown eyes, and grab a box of painkillers from the bottom of the bag.

 

“Here’s some ibuprofen. Nico, take two, Reyna take one. Put some ice over your jaw as well, shit I thought I’d given you some.” You frown at your bag and hand her an ice patch once you locate the thousands you had picked up from your fridge when they showed up. “Are you staying the night as well? You’re not hiding any terrible wounds from me, are you?” You look at her intently, but aside from the bruise on her jaw she seems perfectly fine.

 

“No to both of those. I have to get up pretty early to train tomorrow and it’s pretty far from here.” She sends an apologetic look Nico’s way, but he only smiles in response.

 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be fine. Solace is the most neurotic person I know when it comes to health stuff.” You let out a feign gasp of outrage, ignoring the way your heart speeds up a little, and Reyna chuckles.

 

“I’ll be back to check on you tomorrow night, okay? Call Jason, he must be halfway through buying a ticket back with worry.” Nico sighs, exasperated, but nods.

 

Reyna leans down to give him a hug, and she must’ve whispered something to him, because the next thing you know his face is turning a pretty shade of pink and he sends a look your way before stubbornly focusing on the wall in front of him.

 

“Thanks for everything, Solace.” She says, handing you back the ice patch, but you shake your head.

 

“Nope. Keep it, it’s yours and you’ll need it. Want me to call you a cab?” You offer, walking with her as she makes her way to the door.

 

“Nah, my bike’s downstairs. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She sends a grateful smile at you and you suddenly feel very proud to have deserved Reyna’s approval. You open the door for her and wave as she walks away before going back inside.

 

“So!” You clap your hands and Nico seems to be regretting this already. “Are you hungry? Do you wanna shower? I have to pick up some clothes for you, hm. How do you feel about Star Trek pyjamas because those are the only ones I have, probably. And what do you want to eat? Should we order something? I probably have some leftover, but its age is debatable so–”

 

“Solace.” Nico calls out, and you stop mid-rambling, blood rushing to your cheeks because you hadn’t even _noticed_ you were rambling. He seems somewhat amused at you, though, so you try not to be so embarrassed. “I’d love a shower and I don’t mind your nerd pyjamas. And whatever is there to eat is fine with me, I don’t wanna bother you more than I have to.”

 

“You’re not bothering me. I like having you around.” You say, because you have a big mouth and no impulse control, and Nico’s cheeks turn flush again. “I mean, I wish circumstances were different, but I’ll take what I can get.” You walk towards him, ignoring how hot your face feels. “Come on, I’ll help you to the bathroom. There’s no hot water because I’m poor, but we’ll just pretend it’s a choice.”

 

“You’re–” Nico starts, looking very much flustered and you smile, ignoring the way your heart stutters at the sight. “Just help me up, will you?”

 

“As you wish.” You offer him your hand, and wrap an arm around his waist to steady him when he stumbles. He’s much warmer than you thought he’d be, but you try not to think about it. “You sure you can shower on your own?”

 

“Yes!” He says, almost dropping the ice patch he’s holding over his ribs. “Yes, I can.”

 

“Okay, chill. Try not to get the stitches wet, okay?” You say as you help him sit on top of the toilet. He reaches down to start taking his combat boots off, but groans at the pressure it puts on his ribs. “Want some help?” You offer.

 

Nico looks at you with suspicion, like he’s expecting some sort of trick, but he apparently doesn’t find anything in your expression to confirm that, and after a while he mutters a quiet _yes_.

 

You kneel down in front of him, focusing on untying the seemingly infinite laces of his shoes, and forgetting to keep your misplaced sense of achievement down when you finally managed to get them a boot off.

 

The top of your head burns, and you find Nico staring intently at you when you look up after finally managing to get rid of his shoes. He turns his gaze away after it meets yours, face flushing again and it’s almost impossible to look away, but you do, if only with considerable effort.

 

“I’ll leave some clothes here for you, can you handle everything?” He nods. “Good! Remember to keep the stitches dry if you can, okay? I’ll make us some food while you shower.”

 

“It’s–” He says, before stopping himself, brows furrowed in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

 

“What?”

 

“Why are you doing this?”

 

“Food? Because I’m kind of hungry? And you definitely need to eat.” You say, feigning ignorance, but Nico only huffs, impatient.

 

“No! I mean. You don’t– We’re not friends. You barely know me, you don’t have to do any of this. You don’t have to help me. So why?” He asks, looking up at you, full lips drawn into a frown and the idea that he finds it so hard to accept kindness makes you feel like someone stabbed you.

 

“I’m not doing this out of a misguided sense of obligation, I _want_ to help. And you’re right, we might not know each other very well, but I like you. I think you’re nice to be around.” He seems extra skeptical at this, so you slap at his knee playfully. “I think we could be great friends, but that sort of requires effort on both parts. So maybe show up sometimes. Like, text or something. _Hey, Will, how’s it going, wanna grab lunch?_ , you know. I could stand with having a friend that isn’t a doctor or who doesn’t know my embarrassing high school secrets.” He lets out a brief chuckle and you feel yourself grin. “Okay?”

 

Nico pauses, looking at you with big hopeful eyes, and you almost melt on the spot. “Yeah.” He says, and you feel relief wash over you so intensely that your knees almost buckle.

 

The way Nico di Angelo makes you feel is definitely going to be a problem, but you’re not going to deal with that now.

 

“Good.” You say, as you get up to your feet, taking your eyes off Nico. “That purple towel is yours. I’ll go get you clean clothes and start on the food. If you need anything, shout for me.” He rolls his eyes, and you take that as confirmation.

 

You’re almost at the door when you hear him call for you again, voice quiet and small, but that might as well have been a command with how quickly you respond to it. “Hey, Solace.” It says, and you turn back to face him– his cheeks are ablaze, but he’s looking at you with decisiveness and gratefulness, and with eyes so soft you only barely manage not to gasp. “Thanks.” He says, and the smile he opens– an actual smile, not just the hint of one – is so tender and sheepish, so genuine that you feel your heart attempting to hammer its way out of your chest like you’ve never felt it before.

 

You swallow a lump on your throat, and let the smile that wanted to form itself come out.

 

“You’re welcome, di Angelo.” You say, winking at him, before turning around and heading into your room to maybe shout into a pillow.

 

You hear the echo of Nico’s laughter behind you and decide to make it your life mission is pluck that sound out of him as often as you can.

**Author's Note:**

> so !!! i read heroes of olympus last month and i got REALLY emo over nico because aaaa canonically depressed and gay character ??? i pretty much (definitely) cried and also i officially adopted him hes my son now
> 
> anyway !!! i hope you enjoyed it and please leave me a comment if you can, id appreciate it a lot!


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